This volume applies libertarian philosophy and free-market economic theory to both literature and media, from early modern drama to novels to comic books, cinema, and television series. Several chapters contrast capitalism with statism, focusing on the market economy versus central planning, freedom versus government coercion. Not surprisingly, the economic theories of Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and F.A. Hayek run through several essays. Contributors also engage with other theorists and writers as diverse as Thomas Hobbes, Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Strauss, and Judith Butler.

Jo Ann Cavallo is Professor of Italian at Columbia University, USA. She has published widely on Italian literature and culture, especially Renaissance chivalric epic and popular performance traditions. For the past decade, she has also brought a libertarian perspective to Italian studies through her publications on Marco Polo, Machiavelli, Renaissance fiction, chivalric epic, and Sicilian puppet theater.